Tour of Helsinki/Porvoo

We have a long layover (10 hours) in Helsinki, Finland on the way to Moscow. I%26#39;m seriously considering booking a 6 1/2 hour tour with Paulo%26#39;s Tours. Besides touring Helsinki we will also tour Porvoo. The price for 4 of us is 270 Euro. Has anyone used Paulo%26#39;s tours? Does this price seem reasonable for a personalized tour for 4 people.

Any information anyone has on day tours of Helsinki will be much appreciated.

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The price seems reasonable. It will be quite hectic 6,5 hours to see both Helsinki and Porvoo.

Never heard of the company before.

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I%26#39;ve never heard of this company either. From its website I see it%26#39;s run by a Portuguese who%26#39;s been living here a few years.

The price seems pretty high to me, but if you%26#39;re hell-bent on seeing Porvoo as well as Helsinki in 6½ hours, you don%26#39;t have a whole lot of options. The drive to Porvoo takes about 45 minutes each way, leaving you with perhaps 1 hour for Porvoo and 3 for Helsinki (allowing ½ hour each way to and from the airport). You could cover a fair amount of ground in that time, but you will be left with a pretty blurry impression.

I%26#39;d recommend leaving Porvoo out. It%26#39;s not at its best now summer is over.

A long-established and reputable firm doing tailored and other tours is Helsinki Expert. You might ask them for a competitive quote. www.helsinkiexpert.fi/index_english.html

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Thanks to both of you for the information. I checked out the website that was recommended. From their price list it appears to be more expensive than Paulo%26#39;s tours. Paulo has been very prompt in his replies to me. He is also very professional and has answered all my questions. I have booked the tour with him and will let everyone know how it goes after our trip.

Do either of you have any thoughts about visiting the %26quot;Ice Bar%26quot;? I read about it in some of my research.

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I was at the Ice Bar a couple of weeks ago when I was acting as tour leader for some Brit friends on a cruise. The barkeep told me I was the first Finnish-speaking customer she%26#39;d seen all week (and it was Thursday). In other words, it%26#39;s almost exclusively a tourist thing. It was kind of fun though, in a silly way.